The shapes and rhythms and patterns of things :the linocuts of Sybil Andrews

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dc.contributor.authorNiwa, Kathleenen_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-11T19:38:32Z
dc.date.available2023-09-11T19:38:32Z
dc.date.copyright1986en_US
dc.date.issued1986
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of History in Art
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Art History and Visual Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractIn the mid-1920s, the English artist Sybil Andrews was looking for a medium that would enable her to portray clearly 'the shapes and rhythms and patterns of things.' She discovered that linoleum block printing suited her needs admirably and she chose to devote her artistic career to the production of linocuts. Her enthusiasm for the linocut has not waned over the fifty years she has been printing; it has lasted through the Depression, World War II, and her emigration to Canada in 1947. Now in her eighty-eighth year, her zest for printing continues unabated. Her linocuts are still infused with the same care, love, and humor that marked her initial output in the 20s. This study is the story of Sybil Andrews, her life, and her art. Although her work has been featured in several major exhibitions and has been the subject of numerous articles, reviews, and catalogues, it has not been the focus of an academic study. Andrews' art reflects the shifting artistic climate in England between the two world wars, a period when deep-seated resistance to modernism was still common in England. By examining how Andrews' art reflects these shifts, it is necessary to place her in the artistic, social, economic, and political milieu of England at that time. Andrews belonged to a group of linocutters who were encouraged by the English artist Claude Flight to apply modern formal concepts to linocut printing; an examination of Flight's theories, coupled with a look at his teaching techniques at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art, where Andrews studied from 1926-29, is included. As there are many similarities in the work of Flight's students at this time, it ls also interesting to point out the similarities between Andrews' prints and those of her contemporaries at the Grosvenor School. Other artistic movements influenced Andrews' work. Her prints show a marked affinity to English Vorticism; Italian Futurism; French Cubism; Art Deco; the poster designs of E. McKnight Kauffer; and the Arts and Crafts tradition which formed the basis of Flight's approach. In addition, the theories of Post-Impressionism as espoused by Roger Fry and Clive Bell reached Andrews via Flight and have a bearing on her continual search for pattern and dynamism. Andrews' prints not only reflect many of the currents in English art of the interwar period, but they also serve as an example of how the formal elements of early modern art were given expression through popular art and design. In tracing these influences, it is perhaps tempting to see her prints as simply a 'watered down' version of European avant-garde art. Yet they can also be considered as glimpses of social documentary: they are honest, simple views of English life during the 'long weekend' between the two world wars and encapsulate a time when nearly every aspect of life was documented. Since her emigration to Canada, Andrews has contributed to our artistic history through her twenty-five years of teaching and exhibitions. Recently, renewed interest in the linocut movement has resulted in numerous exhibitions in North America, Britain, and Australia featuring the work of Andrews and her Grosvenor colleagues. More and more information regarding this little-known pocket of English modernism is time to be exploring it.en
dc.format.extent416 pages
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/15368
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectUN SDG 13: Climate Actionen
dc.titleThe shapes and rhythms and patterns of things :the linocuts of Sybil Andrewsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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